Gordon shines as Downingtown West rolls in first round

DOWNINGTOWN — Downingtown West boys basketball coach Jason Ritter was worried that his team might have a hangover in Friday’s District 1 Class AAAA first-round playoff game against Upper Dublin following Tuesday’s Ches-Mont League championship victory over Octorara.

It turned out Ritter was worried for nothing. The 10th-seeded Whippets jumped out to a 8-0 lead, and behind the 16-point, eight-rebound performance from sophomore George Gordon, coasted past No. 23 Upper Dublin, 58-41.

Downingtown West will now head out on the road Tuesday to face No.7 Pennsbury in the second round. Dom Guerrera added 13 points and Ryan Betley chipped in 12 for the Whippets (21-4).

“Coach Ritter talked to us about what happened to Great Valley last year,’ Gordon said. “They won the championship and then lost to a 30-seed in the first round, so he wanted us to be aware of that. But we came out strong and moved the ball and played team basketball. We played strong.’

Betley had all 12 of his points, including two long 3-pointers, in the first half as West took a 26-22 lead into the halftime break.

The undersized Cardinals had trouble keeping the Whippets and allowed numerous second and third chance opportunities with Gordon, Josh Warren, Betley and Guerrera seemingly playing a game of tap with each other.

The third period saw the Whippets take over the game, outscoring the Cardinals (14-9), 19-5, to gain some breathing space.

Guerrera started things off by draining a three to make it a 29-22 game. After Simeon Fryer sank one of two free throws for the Cardinals, the Whippets went back to work.

Guerrera drove the lane, got fouled and sank both free throws. After a miss, the Whippets stormed down the court and Guerrera sank a medium range jumper for a 10-point advantage.